FAA’s BVLOS Overhaul Approaches Finish Line

With the FAA now deep in its review of public comments on the agency’s long-anticipated proposal to allow routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations in U.S. airspace, 2026 is poised to be a pivotal year for the drone industry and the aviation sector at large. Designed to enable scaled drone operations, the new rulemaking could be finalized by the end of the first quarter. 

If approved, it could shape up to be the most consequential policy shift for drones in the U.S. since 2016, when the FAA implemented its first operating requirements for commercial uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) weighing up to 55 pounds. That so-called “small UAS rule,” established in 14 CFR Part 107, enabled daylight-only flights within visual line of sight, with limited BVLOS operations permitted under waivers and exemptions. Under the FAA’s newly proposed rules, operators would no longer need waivers or exemptions to conduct routine BVLOS flights below 400 feet agl with UAS weighing up to 1,320 pounds.

The FAA’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), drafted in collaboration with the Transportation Security Administration and published in the Federal Register in August, aims to replace the cumbersome waiver-based approval system with a unified, risk-based approach to determining what UAS can safely operate in the National Airspace System.

According to the FAA, the rule is intended to provide “a predictable and clear pathway for safe, routine, and scalable UAS operations that include package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic interest, operations training, demonstration, recreation, and flight testing.”

In the NPRM, the FAA proposes adding two new sections in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR): Part 108, which defines operational requirements for uncrewed aircraft, and Part 146, which establishes rules for third-party services that enable and support BVLOS operations. Specifically, it introduces a certification pathway for automated data service providers and uncrewed air traffic management services. 

More than 3,000 comments were submitted in response to the NPRM, which was open for public comment through October 6. It drew responses from stakeholders across the nation’s aviation landscape, including various OEMs, operators, and service providers, as well as major industry associations.

Part 146: A Quiet Disruptor

While the proposed Part 108 rules garnered the bulk of the feedback during the public comment period, Part 146 has not sparked as intense a public discussion. However, some argue that Part 146 will have a more profound impact on the National Airspace System (NAS), with implications reaching far beyond Part 108 operations.

Under current regulations, an automated data service provider (ADSP) can only provide services to UAS operators after obtaining a letter of acceptance from the FAA for specific waivers or exemptions; there is no certification process. Part 146 would recognize ADSPs as certificated entities that form a core component of the NAS—and it would eliminate the need for yet more FAA waivers.  

“Waivers, exemptions, and other authorizations…have safely enabled numerous BVLOS operations including infrastructure inspection, package delivery, and surveillance,” the FAA wrote in its NPRM. “These operational advancements have occurred within the existing aviation regulatory framework, one that did not imagine the types of technologies that could, at a minimum, replace the human eye or that could coordinate operations through decentralized automation platforms.”

Ultimately, the Part 146 rule could support the introduction of larger and more complex UAS, such as the autonomous Cessna Grand Caravans and other modified legacy aircraft in development at companies including Reliable Robotics, Merlin, and Joby Aviation’s Xwing subsidiary. 

“That point cannot be overstated,” the Northern Plains UAS Test Site commented. “Part 146 is not the segregation of manned and unmanned aviation—it’s the bridge. It acknowledges that the same infrastructure supporting BVLOS today could evolve to support tomorrow’s crewed operations. Professional aviators already see this need: safety services like conformance monitoring and deconfliction services are not ‘UAS-only’ tools. They are scalable functions that, under a proper regulatory framework, enhance NAS safety for everyone.”

While large UAS may not qualify for Part 108 operations, “there are a lot of things in Part 108 that are actually really helpful to integrating these types of technologies into the NAS,” Scott O'Brien, vice president of legislative affairs at Reliable Robotics, told AIN. Reliable Robotics is already flight-testing remotely piloted and highly autonomous Cessna Caravans it developed with backing from the U.S. Air Force. Last year, the California-based company won an FAA contract to execute data-collection flights with its detect-and-avoid (DAA) system.

In its comments on the NPRM, Reliable Robotics stressed the importance of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment, which, under Part 108 rules, would grant an aircraft right-of-way over small UAS.

“If you’re operating a non-UAS or even a large UAS like our aircraft that has ADS-B Out, having right of way over the small UAS is really important, so we want to expand ADS-B Out equipage to more aircraft,” O’Brien said. He added that regulators could do more to promote and accelerate ADS-B Out equipage, like providing rebates as incentives, for example. 

Electronic Conspicuity Gives Right of Way

Part 108 UAS would not be allowed to use ADS-B Out equipment to broadcast their positions under the FAA’s proposed rule. That’s because the FAA is concerned that too many transmitters could potentially oversaturate available ADS-B frequencies, limiting the system’s capabilities and potentially blinding ADS-B ground receivers.

As a workaround for ADS-B limitations, the FAA said it “plans to define new requirements for a portable low-cost electronic conspicuity device that could be used by manned aviation operators solely to retain right of way” over Part 108 UAS. 

Under the FAA’s proposed rulemaking, UAS operating under the proposed Part 108 rules would have to yield right of way to crewed aircraft that are broadcasting their position using ADS-B Out equipment or the aforementioned electronic conspicuity device. Meanwhile, crewed aircraft that aren’t broadcasting their positions would be required to yield to UAS—a provision that sparked consternation and debate across the industry.

Hot air balloon operators were prominent among the many commenters who voiced concerns with the right-of-way provision. Several commercial LTA pilots pointed out that it would require balloon operators to yield to drones—even though balloons cannot maneuver as quickly as powered drones—unless their balloons are equipped with electronic conspicuity devices, a nonexistent technology that adds cost and weight to their operations.

“It is neither reasonable nor responsible for the FAA to impose a regulatory requirement that hinges on technology which does not yet exist, has not been tested, and is not ready for deployment,” one commenter said, adding that the FAA should retain its existing right-of-way rules for crewed aircraft operating below 400 feet “until reliable, tested, and universally available technology exists to ensure safety.”

In a joint statement, a group of general aviation and business aviation stakeholders, including the Balloon Federation of America, as well as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Vertical Aviation International, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and Experimental Aircraft Association, expressed concern that the FAA’s rulemaking as written “may contribute to unintended consequences for the NAS.” They called for the FAA to extend right of way to crewed aircraft in all airspace while requiring BVLOS drone operators to detect and avoid them.

VAI separately claimed that the FAA’s proposed rule “relies on inaccurate assumptions about the low-altitude environment, proposes significant changes to long-standing right-of-way rules, and risks creating unnecessary hazards in the airspace.”

“Right-of-way rules must continue to protect the least maneuverable aircraft,” VAI commented, adding that aircraft with people on board “should retain precedence over UAS within the right-of-way hierarchy,” which is established in 14 CFR 91.113. 

Detect and Avoid 

If the FAA were to implement Part 108 rules as proposed, existing Part 91 general operating and flight rules would need to be amended to reflect changes to long-established right-of-way procedures. Whereas Part 91 relies on “see-and-avoid,” or human visual observation, Part 108 adds a new reliance on DAA technologies that don’t jibe with the existing rules.

“Modernizing this 91.113 regulation to basically allow an approved electronic means of detect-and-avoid is really something that is important to do now,” O’Brien said. Reliable Robotics is among a handful of companies developing DAA technologies for autonomous aircraft, while others are developing ground-based optical DAA systems to improve situational awareness.

O’Brien explained that the company could, in principle, still certify and operate its large autonomous UAS under special conditions or waivers, “but to streamline things and just be more forward-leaning on innovation, using the NPRM as an opportunity to update that regulation to be inclusive of these electronic DAA capabilities, that’s something that we [suggested] in the comments. And I think that’s hopefully something that could come out and expand the regulation a bit, making it more inclusive of large UAS.”

For operations under Part 108 rules near Class B and C airspace, where crewed aircraft flying at low altitudes near airports pose a higher collision risk, the FAA proposes that UAS should be required to have a DAA system like Reliable’s. Those UAS would have to detect and avoid crewed aircraft that are not broadcasting their position via ADS-B or electronic conspicuity device. 

The same rules apply to operations in highly populated areas. “At this level of ground risk, the [DAA] system would need to be agnostic to the intruder aircraft’s equipage and would need to detect all airborne aircraft,” the FAA said. 

Over the coming months, the FAA will be analyzing comments and updating its proposed rules. A final draft of the document could be issued before the second quarter. Under an executive order signed into law by President Trump on June 6,  the FAA was given 240 days to publish its final rule, suggesting a deadline of February 1. However, agency-wide delays stemming from a record-setting 43-day government shutdown in October and November could push the final ruling into March or April.